There are a lot of reasons why companies should choose Oracle MySQL. It delivers a fast, reliable, and easy to use open source database system. It is used by major Web sites such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook for their applications. Is it any wonder that it is the most popular open source database available in the market? So much so that thousands of original equipment manufacturers and independent software vendors are embedding it into their products.

Pressed to name just one reason for its popularity, the biggest draw of Oracle MySQL, however, is security.

Oracle MySQL has several security features that you can take advantage of. These include:

• MySQL Enterprise Authentication. With MySQL Enterprise Authentication, you have access to external or third party authentication modules that you can use to integrate your MySQL database with other security infrastructures including Windows Active Directory and pluggable authentication modules.  For instance, Oracle MySQL users may be authenticated using PAM or using native services you find on Windows.
• MySQL Enterprise Encryption. Encrypting your Oracle MySQL database is easier with MySQL Enterprise Encryption. Not only that, you also have access to several other cryptographic features such as digital signatures and key generation. All of the features you find on MySQL Enterprise Encryption will help you safeguard confidential and sensitive data, as well as comply with regulatory requirements.
• MySQL Enterprise Firewall. If you need to safeguard your database from cyber attacks and other security threats, you can rely on MySQL Enterprise Firewall. It gives you protection against attacks that target databases in real time. With MySQL Enterprise Firewall, SQL injection attacks can be blocked, database intrusions can be detected, and unauthorized traffic are also detected and blocked. You can also monitor real-time threats and automatically build a whitelist of SQL statements that should be allowed.
• MySQL Enterprise Audit. Another security feature that you can find on Oracle MySQL is the MySQL Enterprise Audit. This enables you to add auditing criteria (which are rules-based) to all your applications. This is done seamlessly and fast! It also allows you to enable user activity monitoring, use task-based policies, integrate MySQL auditing features with that of third parties, and manage and maintain audit log files.
• MySQL Enterprise Monitor and MySQL Query Analyzer. These two features will constantly monitor your MySQL database and will notify you if there are potential issues before it becomes a problem. These features are tantamount to having a virtual database assistant in your team that is always checking on your database and recommends the best practices that will help you take out security vulnerabilities, optimize and improve performance, and improve replication, among other things. This means that your real system administrators and database administrators would be able to focus on more important work.

All of these security features are what makes Oracle MySQL the top choice for an open source relational database system. These are not the only security features that you can find on Oracle MySQL, though. Each one offers more capabilities that allow you to secure your database easily and without complexities.

Screenshot photo courtesy of Oracle MySQL.